Mac Vs PC - Think Atheist2018-03-20T02:39:41Zhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topics/mac-vs-pc?groupUrl=geekyatheists&commentId=1982180%3AComment%3A1289835&xg_source=activity&groupId=1982180%3AGroup%3A414584&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSeriously? Who gives a rats a…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12899682013-04-06T20:59:29.850ZNoelhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/Noel
<p>Seriously? Who gives a rats ass anymore? Last I looked CNET and ZDMedia were talking about the demise of the desktop at the hands of mobile hardware. My lab teacher told us in 1986 that miniaturization was the wave of the future and battery technology was the holy grail….</p>
<p>As someone who, early on, owned and used both platforms it just falls on what you're comfortable with and what you can afford. If Apple products are too much money I'm sure that there is a PC or Linux product that…</p>
<p>Seriously? Who gives a rats ass anymore? Last I looked CNET and ZDMedia were talking about the demise of the desktop at the hands of mobile hardware. My lab teacher told us in 1986 that miniaturization was the wave of the future and battery technology was the holy grail….</p>
<p>As someone who, early on, owned and used both platforms it just falls on what you're comfortable with and what you can afford. If Apple products are too much money I'm sure that there is a PC or Linux product that will fit the bill. Don't make you a bad person. Don't make you a bad person if you pay more and get less by buying an Apple laptop. What do we care what someone wants to spend?</p>
<p>It's like arguing about Harley's and Honda's… </p>
<p>Here is something that may answer a nagging question. When HP invents a laptop they go to market and ask Intel for the latest greatest Central Processor they've invented. Same thing with Apple. The only thing limiting their choices are the Operating System. HP uses Microsoft Windows. They call Microsoft and tell them what they want to do and is Their operating system compatible. Microsoft tells Hp that they'll get back to them as soon as they test out this new snazzy CPU with their latest flavor of Windows. You see HP doesn't have to worry about developing Hardware and Software simultaneously. HP is a hardware company. Of course their products are going to cost less. Apple does both… But be that as it may; I could care less. If I want to buy it and I can Afford it then Cest la vie, here's my Amex, ring me up, and plug it in. Who cares?</p>
<p>Buddy of mine went out and bought a set of Dr.Dre Studio headphones. They run about $299.00. He paid $125.00 off some peddler on the street. He starts worrying about if they're real they're not real did he get taken. He spends the better part of the day searching Youtube to see how he can tell the difference between "REAL" Dr. Dre's and phony's. Yeah! He got taken. They were phony but before he found this out he showed me a youtube video of some 17 year old kid explaining how to tell them apart. The kid looked straight into the camera and said, "Dr. Dre Studio headphone's cost $299.00. You know what $299.00 buys you? Peace of mind. It saves you the energy of searching Youtube to find out if your $125.00 headphones are real or not. If you don't have $299.00 for a set of Dre's and all you have is $125.00 then get a set of Sony's for $125.00. Why? Cause it's what you can afford and then there is also peace of mind." </p>
<p>Funny.</p> Of course they're willing to…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12900942013-04-06T14:55:16.418ZUnseenhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/Unseen
<p><em><strong>Of course they're willing to pay. But how do they know Photoshop is the superior product? They don't. They assume it because Adobe is a trusted brand. Why do so few bother to try GIMP despite that it's free, even when they do hear about it? Because everyone else uses Adobe. </strong></em></p>
<p><span>You might as well be talking about Mac vs. PC. The PC lost the cool factor to Mac a long time ago, reinforced by ads showing a cute young Mac user vs. a dumpy, somewhat older and…</span></p>
<p><em><strong>Of course they're willing to pay. But how do they know Photoshop is the superior product? They don't. They assume it because Adobe is a trusted brand. Why do so few bother to try GIMP despite that it's free, even when they do hear about it? Because everyone else uses Adobe. </strong></em></p>
<p><span>You might as well be talking about Mac vs. PC. The PC lost the cool factor to Mac a long time ago, reinforced by ads showing a cute young Mac user vs. a dumpy, somewhat older and very uncool PC user. Consequently, there's a demographic who would no more buy a PC than a business suit.</span></p>
<p><span>Steve Jobs was a marketing genius from the product conception stage onward.</span></p> bingo. There are so many PC u…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12898382013-04-06T10:24:00.692Zdiggerbankshttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/AndyFletcher
<p>bingo. There are so many PC users out there who desperately want to justify their usage of crap bloatware, ugly interface, unsympathetic software and overall impoverished user-experience.</p>
<p>bingo. There are so many PC users out there who desperately want to justify their usage of crap bloatware, ugly interface, unsympathetic software and overall impoverished user-experience.</p> errmmm, why would they go on…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12896802013-04-06T10:20:40.499Zdiggerbankshttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/AndyFletcher
<p>errmmm, why would they go on about it if the user-experience was not infinitely better. I use both and there is simply no comparison.</p>
<p>errmmm, why would they go on about it if the user-experience was not infinitely better. I use both and there is simply no comparison.</p> Oh, I can't disagree with you…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12895852013-04-06T07:21:46.931ZRichard E. Robertsonhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/RichardERobertson
<p>Oh, I can't disagree with you at all about how hostile Microsoft has been to Linux. I had problems with first setting up my machine as multiboot. I run a (yes, increasingly antiquated) HP G56 machine and the partitioning system that came initially wonderful and flexible but Linux simply could not be installed under it without eliminating other partitions. I had to purchase another piece of software to make an in place change. I hate the replacement old-style logical/extended partition crap I…</p>
<p>Oh, I can't disagree with you at all about how hostile Microsoft has been to Linux. I had problems with first setting up my machine as multiboot. I run a (yes, increasingly antiquated) HP G56 machine and the partitioning system that came initially wonderful and flexible but Linux simply could not be installed under it without eliminating other partitions. I had to purchase another piece of software to make an in place change. I hate the replacement old-style logical/extended partition crap I had to substitute but at least Linux could see all the other partitions on the drive at last. I LOVE my GRUB 2 loader :) Hewlett-Packard talked about loss of support if Linux was installed (I was out of their warranty anyways - fuck them). I've heard the horror stories of trying to install Linux under a OEM machine with Windows 8 pre-installed. So I'm entirely with you here. But I didn't misuse the word "creed". I've seen the same sort of fervor in the Linux diehards as I've seen with Apple. This isn't true of all such users of course, but I've seen the same degree of cliquish behavior and arrogance in both communities which have persisted despite any lack of substantial evidence. </p>
<p>Of course my system is not a production server system. I still would not use Windows for such. For my home use system the boot times were actually competitive. Win8 launched from GRUB 2 and had the login screen up and ready faster than Ubuntu. But Windows 8 was optimized for devices where such rapid start up is expected and necessary. Linux still has it beat for actual login, but the margin seemed to be pretty thin. I also know personally one of the principle contractors behind the interface design of Vista, Win 7, and Win 8 and have some inside info that Microsoft has been trying to break away from the legacy issues that have tended to compromise performance and security. MS used to be pretty arrogant about that crap and the competition has been a needed kick in the ass for them. </p>
<p>There is no "if I say so" issue here. My equipment meets, or even exceeds the necessary requirements to run the operating systems in question. But again, I'm running under a GUI environment which can easily become unstable. But that's also why I get frequent updates to fix those issues as soon as these issues are discovered and resolved. If an OS was bug free it wouldn't need updates :p You work in a data center which has a specific hardware and software setup to minimize downtime (thankfully!). But I also doubt you are trying to use the hardware to run an graphics intensive MMORPG which a general consumer machine might be expected to do (I also work for a game software company). But in my case crashes and freezes occurred with less intensive machine use (browsing the web, watching videos, running a local server for web development and testing, text editing with LibreOffice or similar work) so I was certainly shocked it happened at all with Linux. I believe the guilty culprit was Nautilus and I think the problems has since been resolved with later updates. f</p>
<p>Oops. Looks like I'm in that age bracket too. (46 this year). I use Ubuntu Linux and I'm quite familiar with its GUI. My mom also is set up to multiboot with Linux, (she's approaching her 70s) and she loves it too. But she's also completely crashed and lost data when she tried to do a update on it on her own - never recovered that data. either :'( - but I still find myself finding people giving me instructions like "sudo blah blah blah". Would I expect a typical computer consumer to comprehend such? No. Do I personally understand and comprehend the intent of such commands? Yes, but I"m also a systems programmer meaning I've been part of the development of operating systems and at the lowest level.</p>
<p>And command lines are, again, appropriate in a server farm environment where you work, but you would be hard pressed to justify why a software product like Google Chrome has options that are only available as command line switches and other browsers with the same features simple have them directly available within the functioning browser and don't require the user to fire up another program (the command interpreter shell) just to manipulate them. </p>
<p>My arguments were primarily focused on general consumers and <em>not </em>IT professionals. Personally, after over 30+ years in the industry I've found <em>Things That Really Suck</em> (tm) common to all modern OS. Things have improved but I still find a number of persistent annoyances that all of them are guilty of. </p> I used to do volunteer servic…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-06:1982180:Comment:12898132013-04-06T05:56:08.398ZRichard E. Robertsonhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/RichardERobertson
<p>I used to do volunteer service work at an Einstein Bros coffee shop in St. Louis that was operated by the downtown Marriott hotel. I was good friends of the store manager and I could use the machines without prior purchase and often from store open to store close. They had a couple of Macs running OS X and I would frequently use them to to play the game RuneScape - this particular Java/browser game I found could literally lock the computer up solid. And it happened quite frequently. When the…</p>
<p>I used to do volunteer service work at an Einstein Bros coffee shop in St. Louis that was operated by the downtown Marriott hotel. I was good friends of the store manager and I could use the machines without prior purchase and often from store open to store close. They had a couple of Macs running OS X and I would frequently use them to to play the game RuneScape - this particular Java/browser game I found could literally lock the computer up solid. And it happened quite frequently. When the cursor would no longer respond to any mouse movement,no action of the keyboard would prompt any response, and none of the windows or software that were supposed to be active were doing <em>anything</em> - not even the "pinwheel" cursor present to indicate that at least the computer was doing something, I'd say it was quite locked up. And it happened across both machines. This not the only software that caused such lockups either, but I'm at a loss so many years later to identify all of the culprits. I think the last version that was installed was Mountain Lion at the time. It's likely because of the Linux-type OS core it uses (and I did access the command prompt on those machines because sometimes I would do diagnostic work that way so felt often like I WAS on Linux despite Apple's claims otherwise :p )</p>
<p>I don't know what you are doing with your machine, but I tend to push mine to their max when I can - I'm a game and software developer and I tend make machines scream and beg for mercy. :D</p> A lot of people without much…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-05:1982180:Comment:12896122013-04-05T22:14:15.130ZUnseenhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/Unseen
<p>A lot of people without much in the way of means could probably compete with or even surpass the results professionals get, if they could only afford the software.</p>
<p>A lot of people without much in the way of means could probably compete with or even surpass the results professionals get, if they could only afford the software.</p> Thanks. What do I owe you?
"S…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-05:1982180:Comment:12892862013-04-05T16:32:38.468ZMikeLonghttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/MikeLong
<p>Thanks. What do I owe you?</p>
<p>"<span>Say your computer is acting extremely weird"</span></p>
<p><span>That's the problem. My only known exposure to bot-nets was when I got a new boarder and I noticed my upload traffic going through the roof. I ran a couple of scans from different vendors but, like you said, they found nothing. He was resistant because <span style="text-decoration: underline;">his computer showed NO symptoms</span>, but I told him that he could reconnect to my network…</span></p>
<p>Thanks. What do I owe you?</p>
<p>"<span>Say your computer is acting extremely weird"</span></p>
<p><span>That's the problem. My only known exposure to bot-nets was when I got a new boarder and I noticed my upload traffic going through the roof. I ran a couple of scans from different vendors but, like you said, they found nothing. He was resistant because <span style="text-decoration: underline;">his computer showed NO symptoms</span>, but I told him that he could reconnect to my network when I saw a report from a local malware service. I told him I'd pay for the service if his computer was clean. So he took it in and, sure enough, loaded with malware. Happily they were able to remove the infections and my upload traffic returned to virtually nothing. They said that the bot-net his computer was on is driven from Russia and has an estimated 25 million "clients".</span></p>
<p></p> What's the best way to find o…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-05:1982180:Comment:12895922013-04-05T14:16:33.632ZMikeLonghttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/MikeLong
<p>What's the best way to find out if my computer is on a bot-net? Or do I just keep an eye on any unexplained upload traffic?</p>
<p>What's the best way to find out if my computer is on a bot-net? Or do I just keep an eye on any unexplained upload traffic?</p> I think one of the main reaso…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-04-05:1982180:Comment:12894292013-04-05T12:37:00.899ZUnseenhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/Unseen
<p>I think one of the main reasons is the expertise in one's social circle. When my daughter has problems with her Windows machine, her first call is to me, and I almost always can help. If she was running some variation on UNIX, she'd have to talk to someone she may not know. "Perpinquity breeds special relationships." In other words, people are more comfortable dealing with people they know. </p>
<p>I might consider TRYING LINUX on one of my three computers if I knew someone else who would be…</p>
<p>I think one of the main reasons is the expertise in one's social circle. When my daughter has problems with her Windows machine, her first call is to me, and I almost always can help. If she was running some variation on UNIX, she'd have to talk to someone she may not know. "Perpinquity breeds special relationships." In other words, people are more comfortable dealing with people they know. </p>
<p>I might consider TRYING LINUX on one of my three computers if I knew someone else who would be there to help me through the learning curve. After that, the question would be how well it could run the software I rely on, which would almost be in some sort of simulated Windows environment. You see, I use some very sophisticated software, so I doubt if some sort of generic no-name substitute running on the LINUX level would do the job a photographer's tool such as ThumbPlus (Cerious Software) would do.</p>